1 . Chief executive officer. Marketing director. Lead writer. Job titles like these have generally been standard across work for years. They communicate essential employee details such as job function and seniority. They make sense to employees and recruiters (招聘人员) alike, leaving little room for ambiguity. However, labels like “chief visionary officer”, “business development guru (大师) ”or “chief remote officer” are emerging. In many industries, especially creative ones, employers feel free to create job titles for employees. They can serve as recruitment or retention (留用) tools — and even grab attention from clients.
This was the case for Lennie Hughes, whose official job title is “head of hype (炒作) and culture” at Truant, a London-based advertising agency. Initially, this position was advertised as a more traditional “head of marketing and new business“. But, after being recruited, Hughes worked with Truant to craft a new title for the role he’d lead, centred more on integrating traditional external branding and communications with a fresh take on internal workplace culture. He also acknowledges it’s not without strategic benefit. “If my job is all about getting attention, the title should do that, too.”
Experts and employees alike say there can be an upside to flashy job titles. Pawel Adrjan works for Indeed, a large hiring platform. He cites Indeed data, showing “people” is outdoing the traditional title of “human resources”; similarly, the title of “talent acquisition” is up 75% while “recruitment” is down 19% since 2019. Adrjan says, “By using ‘people’ in the title, employers can say they invest in people. Through this language, companies are trying to show they don’t regard employees as resources to tap.”
But beware, these fancy new titles aren’t all good news. Sometimes they offer little guidance as to what their job actually involves. Ultimately, when a non-descriptive, overblown job title is used as a costless recruiting method to boost worker ego (自尊心), it can lead to a mismatch in expectations between employer and employee. At the extreme end, this could place workers in a tough position where they end up in a role that doesn’t match what they thought was promised.
1. What best explains“ambiguity”underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Growth. | B．Confusion. | C．Discussion. | D．Improvement. |
| A．Hard-working. | B．Honest. | C．Considerate. | D．Innovative. |
| A．They are mainly used to attract investment. |
| B．They are starting to lose popularity among employers. |
| C．They can make employees feel more respected. |
| D．They can help companies tap a broader candidate pool. |
| A．The growing mismatch between workers and their job titles. |
| B．The negative impact of unconventional job titles. |
| C．The unrealistic expectations of employers. |
| D．The tough position of modern workers. |
1. Where is the accounting office?
| A．On the 4th floor. | B．On the 5th floor. | C．On the 6th floor. |
| A．The Thai restaurant. |
| B．The accounting office. |
| C．The shipping department. |
1. Where does the conversation probably take place?
| A．In an office. |
| B．In a shop. |
| C．In an apartment. |
| A．A car salesman. |
| B．A clothing designer. |
| C．An English teacher. |
| A．Through the Internet. |
| B．From his friend. |
| C．From college books. |
| A．Deciding what she likes to do. |
| B．Finding information about writing. |
| C．Being confident about herself. |
4 . During the COVID-19 pandemic, technologies are playing a crucial role in keeping our society functional in a time of lockdowns and quarantines（封锁和隔离）. And remote work may have a long-lasting impact beyond COVID-19.
Many companies have asked employees to work from home. Remote work is enabled by technologies including virtual private networks（VPNs）, voice over internet protocols'（VoIPs）, virtual meetings, cloud technology, work collaboration tools and even facial recognition technologies that enable a person to appear before a virtual background to preserve the privacy of the home. In addition to preventing the spread of viruses, remote work also saves commute time and provides more flexibility.
Yet remote work also imposes challenges to employers and employees. Information security, privacy and timely tech support can be big issues. Remote work can also complicate labor law issues, such as those associated with providing a safe work environment and income tax issues. Employees may experience loneliness and lack of work-life balance. If remote work becomes more common after the COVID-19 pandemic, employers may decide to reduce rents and hire people from regions with cheaper labor costs.
Laws and regulations must be updated to accommodate remote work, and further psychological studies need to be conducted to understand the effect of remote work on people.
Further, not all jobs can be done from home, which creates disparity. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 25% of wage and salary workers worked from home at least occasionally from 2017 to 2018. Workers with college educations are at least five times more likely to have jobs that allow them to work from home compared with people with high school diplomas. Some professions, such as medical services and manufacturing, may not have the option at all. Policies with respect to data flows and taxation would need to be adjusted should the volume of cross-border digital services rise significantly.
1. Why is remote work especially important during COVID-19?| A．It saves time. | B．It blocks viruses. |
| C．It saves money. | D．It preserves privacy. |
| A．To emphasize importance. |
| B．To sadden employers and employees. |
| C．To demonstrate challenges. |
| D．To compare benefits and drawbacks. |
| A．gaps | B．challenges |
| C．options | D．prejudices |
| A．Critical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Subjective. | D．Suspicious. |
1. What is the woman doing?
| A．She’s interpreting a painting. | B．She’s chairing a meeting. | C．She’s hosting a program. |
| A．From an oil painting. | B．From a city in Mexico. | C．From his initials in Spanish. |
| A．His childhood friend. | B．His father. | C．A woman artist. |
| A．His focus on life of the aged. |
| B．His unique use of bright colors. |
| C．His expression of childlike innocence. |
6 . If you had asked me then if I would accept a job as a restaurant critic for The New York Times. or any establishment publication, I would have replied, without a second thought, “Of course not!” And not just because I did not want to think of myself as an ambitious sort Working in restaurants was honest labor, anyone could see that. Writing about them for the mainstream press was not; it felt like joining the enemy.
But renewing was fun. so much fun that when mainstream publishers started paying me for my opinions, I didn't do the decent thing. Before I knew it, I had stopped cooking Professionally.
Then I stopped cooking altogether. “She's joined the leisure class.” my friend said.
I disarmed (消解怒气)) my critics by inviting them along; nobody I knew could afford to eat out and nobody refused. We went with equal amounts of guilt and pleasure, with a feeling that we were trespassing (侵入))on the playgrounds of the rich.
We didn't belong in starchy restaurants. We knew it, and when we climbed out of my rent - a - wreck, splendid in years from the Salvation Army, everybody else knew it, too. We always got the worst table. And then, because I didn't own a credit card, I had to pay in cash. The year turned into two and three, and more. I got a credit card. I got good clothes. I was writing for increasingly prestigious (声誉高的)publications. Meanwhile, a voice inside me kept whispering, “How could you?”
The voice is still there, yakking (喋喋不休)away. When I receive weekly letters from people who think it is indecent to write about $100 meals while half the world is hungry, the voice yaks right along, “They're absolutely right, you elitist pig is hisses”. And when it asks. “When are you going to grow up and get a real job?” it sounds a lot like my mother.
And just about then is when I tell the voice to shut up. Because when my mother starts idling me that all I'm doing with my life is telling rich people where to eat, I realize how much the world has changed.
Yes, there are still restaurants where rich people go to remind themselves that they are different from you and me. But there are fewer and fewer of them. As American food has come of age. American restaurants have changed. Going out to eat used to be like going to the opera; today, it is more like going to the movies.
And so everyone has become a critic. I couldn't be happier. The more people pay attention to what and how they eat, the more accustomed they become to their own senses and the world around them.
When I remember that conversation with M. F. K. Fisher, I wish I had not been quite so gentle. When I rerun the loop in my mind, I turn to her and say this: “No, you are wrong. A. J. Liebling had it right. All it really takes to be a restaurant critic is a good appetite.”
1. How did the author feel about the job as a restaurant critic at the very beginning?| A．She didn't think much of it |
| B．She was the ambitious one for it. |
| C．It was not suitable for a cook like her. |
| D．It was not easy to work for the mainstream press. |
| A．A strong desire to be invited to eat out like the rich. |
| B．A mixed feeling of guilt and pleasure about eating out. |
| C．A mixed feeling of guilt and pleasure going into private property. |
| D．A special treat to be able to go into private property for fun. |
| A．She stayed in the career as a cook for years. |
| B．She kept on writing as a restaurant critic for years. |
| C．It was years before she quit the career as a cook. |
| D．It was years before her application for a credit card got approved. |
| A．worthwhile | B．critical | C．unacceptable | D．imperfect |
| A．They have places for both the rich and the poor. |
| B．They have varieties of means for entertainment. |
| C．They have become too expensive to be available. |
| D．They have become affordable to common people, |
| A．The writer is getting tired of the job. |
| B．good appetite makes a good critic. |
| C．There is no need for restaurant critics at all. |
| D．Eating out is no longer a privilege the rich have. |
| A．In a store. | B．In a bank. | C．At home. |
| A．A surgeon | B．A general doctor. | C．A dentist. |
1. What is Tracy?
| A．A student. | B．A librarian. | C．A programmer. |
| A．Enjoyable. | B．Demanding. | C．Boring. |
| A．Meet a friend. | B．Eat something. | C．See his boss. |
内容包括：
1. 采访的对象；
2. 采访的原因；
3. 想提的问题。
注意：
1. 词数120左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 短文中不能出现与本人相关的信息；
4. 短文的标题已给出，不计入总词数。
A Famous Chinese I Would Like to Interview
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